SERC Engineering apprentice Jacob Scott from Newtownards took home second prize in the turning category at SERC’s Inter-Campus Engineering Skills Competition.

This week South Eastern Regional College (SERC) held its third intercampus engineering skills competition which took place at the Lisburn Campus. The one-day competition which was organised by the mechanical engineering team was designed to test and challenge the ability of its students in turning, milling, fabrication and welding.

Apprentices from across the main campuses of the College tested their skills against each other. The aim of the competition was to challenge the students to manufacture components using industry based skills.

Apprentices David MaHaffey and Peter Allan were celebrating when they beat off stiff competition from fellow apprentices to claim the welding and fabrication categories respectively. While Nathan McCourt and Andrew Thompson took the top spot in the milling and turning categories.

SERC Engineering lecturer Ivan Kelly said, “The students found the competition challenging but surprised themselves at how well they could do. Running this event takes hard work and the support of a lot of engineering staff to make the event run smoothly and credit must go to the team for making this a reality.”

Speaking at the presentation ceremony Ivan stated that he was ‘very impressed’ by the standard of work produced and ‘how well the students handled the pressure’.

Ivan said: “We encourage the students to participate in all competitions, which will enhance their skills and knowledge. The Inter Campus competition contributes to the learning experience and improves the student’s confidence, while providing them the opportunity to test their skills against their college peers.”

The students were set a test project which took a day to complete. At the end of the competition their projects were judged and scored by SERC tutors. Marks were awarded for accurate measurements, overall quality of work produced, and ability to work within the timeframes, efficient use of resources and health and safety.

In announcing the winners, Ivan added his congratulations to all the students across the College who participated in the competition and thanked the dedicated staff for their hard work.

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